Prep Girls Hoops: NWIC summer league benefits NUIC teams

DURAND — Over the past seven years, the NWIC summer league has become a convenient outlet for many area girls basketball teams looking to get in some quality offseason work.

By Adam J. Kradle

Journal Standard

By Adam J. Kradle

Posted Jun. 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 7, 2013 at 6:02 AM

By Adam J. Kradle

Posted Jun. 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 7, 2013 at 6:02 AM

DURAND — Over the past seven years, the NWIC summer league has become a convenient outlet for many area girls basketball teams looking to get in some quality offseason work.

“It’s a good league,” Aquin coach Jeff Curry said. “We get to see each other, it’s minimal travel and minimal pay.”

The eight-team Monday night league includes all NUIC teams — Aquin, Dakota, Durand, Warren, Eastland, Pearl City, Orangeville and Pecatonica — and runs for four weeks in June. Two schools per week host four teams, which each play two games per night.

The proximity of all of the schools makes it easy on teams in terms of travel time, but the minimal cost to play has made the league even more accommodating. Aside from the price each hosting team pays for referees — around $200 — there is no fee. That isn’t the case for every summer league.

“It’s cheaper than any other league,” Dakota coach Kevin Cline said. “It costs us $350 to go the Byron league, it’s $350 to go down to Sterling. To pay a couple hundred bucks and get a couple volunteers to run the scoreboard is awesome.”

Prior to the NWIC league, some teams, including Dakota, competed in a Highland Community College-hosted league, which Cline and other coaches weren’t completely satisfied with. And it was former Pearl City coach Ron Johnson who played a big role in getting the eight area teams to form their own league.

“He just sort of took the bull by the horns and said, ‘why don’t we just organize our own league,’” Cline said. “We got to kicking ideas around and realized if we get eight teams and you realize you have two teams host it works out pretty simple.”

Some teams, like Aquin and Dakota, play in other leagues beside the NWIC. The Bulldogs also complete in a Tuesday night league hosted by Sterling Newman, while the Indians play in Byron on Tuesdays. Adding on multiple weekend tournaments, the month of June can become a busy one for area programs, but the NWIC league is proving to be valuable in its own way. Along with the convenience of location and cost, area teams can get an early look at each other several months before the regular season begins in November.

“Just seeing the kids again and the coaches and getting our feet under us is nice,” Curry said.

“The simplicity of it, the travel, you can’t beat that,” Cline said.

“I know some coaches don’t like to see the same teams and I don’t want to play the same teams four or five times over the summer, but it is nice to see everybody once and get an idea of what they’re looking at. So it has some benefits that way too.”